What’s expressed through its colorful drawings and collages yield impressions about humanity at once inspirational, meditative, melancholic, and cautiously hopeful. Abreu’s mastery of purely visual storytelling enables him to triumph at such tall narrative order without a single word of dialogue (the few lines and song lyrics are purposefully unintelligible). From the point of view of a rural child searching for his father in the big city, the film addresses environmental concerns, the rise of authoritarian governments, and economic inequality through roughly sketched characters and idiosyncratically graphic, hand-drawn backgrounds.Ĭrayons, color pencils, cutouts, oil paints, and even live-action footage (used briefly, but intently) make up the awe-inspiring, whimsical, and occasionally sinister world the boy inhabits. There’s a synergy between the sublime handcraftsmanship and the socially conscious themes observed in Alê Abreu’s “Boy and the World” -the musically driven, Brazilian kaleidoscopic stunner that became Latin America’s first-ever Oscar nominated animated feature. “Boy and the World”Ĭarlos Aguilar Los Angeles Times, The Wrap, MovieMaker Magazine But Shinkai, determined to “present the real world from a different perspective,” manages to transform unremarkable settings into pieces of art through the lush, vibrant colors that manage to pop even off the tiniest computer screen. The sparse story only adds to that surreal quality achieved by Shinkai’s photorealistic animation - which is so shockingly close to real life that the shots at time look like photographs. One of his few films to not contain any sci-fi or fantasy elements, “5 Centimeters Per Second” consists of three vignettes following the decades-long love story of two childhood friends, told in a slow-burning, dreamlike fashion. 'The Last of Us': Everything You Need to Know About HBO's Adaptation
Laika Announces Sixth Stop-Motion Movie, 'Wildwood,' Directed by Travis Knight, Shot by Caleb DeschanelĪnnie Awards Nominations Led by Disney's 'Frozen 2' and Laika's 'Missing Link'Įvery IndieWire TV Review from 2021 So Far, Ranked by Best to Worst Grade While his 2013 short film “The Garden of Words” is objectively one of the most beautiful pieces of animation ever committed to celluloid, his 2007 film “5 Centimeters Per Second” is the perfect embodiment of Shinkai’s ability to bring to inject new life into mundane settings.
Makoto Shinkai may be best known as the director behind the 2017 global mega-hit “Your Name,” but he has long established himself as a singular anime filmmaker whose pensive metaphysical plots are only bested by his gorgeous photorealistic renderings of modern-day Tokyo.
This week’s question: In an attempt to call attention to the films that treat feature-length animation like the art form that it is, what’s the most beautifully animated film ever made? “5 Centimeters Per Second” Last Friday saw the release of Laika’s “ Missing Link,” a singular and exquisitely crafted piece of stop-motion animation at a time when generic, computer-generated fare is dominating the market ( IndieWire’s positive review can be read here). (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.) Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday.